Texas A&M’s Move to SEC Could Be Delayed By Legal Action

As most college football fan know, the Aggies of Texas A&M have announced they are leaving their old stomping grounds at the Big 12 Conference for the SEC.

The Southeastern Conference announced today that it voted unanimously to accept A&M as the conference’s 13th member, starting next year.

A&M’s defection has to do partly with anger over the University of Texas’s new Longhorn Network, which broadcasts Longhorn football games and is believed by some Big 12 schools to give U.T. an unfair recruiting advantage.

But hold on — the specter of legal action has at least temporarily delayed A&M’s move to the SEC, WSJ reports.

“After receiving unanimous written assurance from the Big 12 on September 2 that the Southeastern Conference was free to accept Texas A&M to join as a new member, the presidents and chancellors of the SEC met last night with the intention of accepting the application of Texas A&M to be the newest member of the SEC,” Florida president Bernie Machen, chairman of the SEC’s presidents and chancellors, said in a statement.”We were notified yesterday afternoon that at least one Big 12 institution had withdrawn its previous consent and was considering legal action.”

The complaining school is believed to be Baylor, WSJ reports. (Here’s an ESPN article on the threat of legal action.)

Baylor expressed legal concerns about Texas A&M’s departure from the conference, a source told ESPN, which reports that sources close to Baylor are saying that other Big 12 schools have some concerns and that Baylor does not stand alone.

The Law Blog has requested comment from Baylor.

In a statement, Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin said: “We are disappointed in the threats made by one of the Big 12 member institutions to coerce Texas A&M into staying in Big 12 Conference. These actions go against the commitment that was made by this university and the Big 12 on Sept. 2. We are working diligently to resolve any and all issues as outlined by the SEC.”

Update: AP has this article out on the matter. While the Big 12 Conference waived the right to bring legal action against the SEC, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe has indicated that Big 12 waiver may not be binding on Big 12 member schools, AP reports.

The Big 12 has accused Texas A&M of putting some members at risk of losing millions of dollars in revenue, presumably from the 13-year, $1 billion television deal the Big 12 reached with Fox Sports in April, the AP reports. (Fox is owned by News Corp. which also owns WSJ.)

“This is the first time to my knowledge that a conference has been requested to waive any legal claims toward another conference for any damages suffered with a membership change,” Beebe told AP.

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